Toyota’s 2023 Prius: Lamborghini looks meet fuel-sipping economy

“It looks fast,” said my neighbor as they eyed the sleek blue car parked in the shadow of their big BMW X5. That’s understandable; from time to time, there are quite fast cars parked in my spot, and this one looked the part, with a steeply canted windshield and big open-spoke alloy wheels wrapped with low-profile tires. In this case, looks are deceiving because the car in question was not a sportscar, it was the new Toyota Prius. Which, no, is not fast at all. But it is rather economical.

Design

The new Prius is a relatively small car by 2023 standards; even with the slight growth in width, it measures 181.1 inches (4,600 mm) long and 70.2 inches (1,783 mm) wide and, in Limited trim, stands 56.3 inches (1,430 mm) high. (Smaller wheels drop 0.4 inches/10 mm in the process.) In fact, that’s about as tall as a Corolla or Camry, yet neither of those cars has the stage presence of this Prius.

That’s because it has had a radical style upgrade for its fifth generation. It’s lower and wider than before and no longer looks like two different cars crashed into each other. Instead, there’s a more acute A pillar than you’d find in a Lamborghini Huracan, and the aerodynamicist’s touch is clear in the scalloped sides and cut-off tail.

The design at the rear is all about controlling airflow and preventing the attachment of a wake that can drag on the car.

Jonathan Gitlin

The design at the rear is all about controlling airflow and preventing the attachment of a wake that can drag on the car. Jonathan Gitlin

The sides are cut away from the B pillar to the rear wheels to make the shape more efficient.

Jonathan Gitlin

The sides are cut away from the B pillar to the rear wheels to make the shape more efficient. Jonathan Gitlin

The design at the rear is all about controlling airflow and preventing the attachment of a wake that can drag on the car. Jonathan Gitlin

The sides are cut away from the B pillar to the rear wheels to make the shape more efficient. Jonathan Gitlin

Despite that, it’s a draggier shape than the car it replaces. Toyota says the drag coefficient is 0.27 on 17-inch wheels, but only the entry-level Prius LE ($27,450) rides on those; every other trim comes with 19-inch wheels that probably increase the Cd to 0.29. But as the more pedantic will know, it’s the combination of drag plus frontal area that counts, and although the older Prius had a Cd of 0.24, the two-inch reduction in height should mean the new car comes out ahead.

Powertrain

Toyota has stuck with a parallel hybrid powertrain for the Prius, but it’s not just carried over from the old model. The Atkinson-cycle engine has grown in capacity to 2.0 L, and the engine on its own generates 150 hp (112 kW) and 139 lb-ft (188 Nm).

That joins forces with a permanent magnet AC synchronous motor providing 111 hp (83 kW) and 152 lb-ft (206 Nm), both of which drive the front wheels, with a combined output of 194 hp (145 kW). And instead of nickel metal hydride, the traction battery is now lithium-ion, which is smaller and lighter. Battery capacity has increased slightly, to 1.5 kWh.

New for this generation of Prius is the ($1,400) option of electric all-wheel drive; this adds a 40 hp (30 kW), 62 lb-ft (85 Nm) interior permanent magnet motor to the rear axle, raising overall combined power by a couple of horsepower in the process.

Fuel efficiency

That’s an astonishing mpg number, but I should point out that the journey was mostly downhill.

Jonathan Gitlin

That’s an astonishing mpg number, but I should point out that the journey was mostly downhill. Jonathan Gitlin

I didn’t get anywhere close to the 52 mpg average, but I did better than whoever drove this Prius the week before, or the week before that.

Jonathan Gitlin

I didn’t get anywhere close to the 52 mpg average, but I did better than whoever drove this Prius the week before, or the week before that. Jonathan Gitlin

That’s an astonishing mpg number, but I should point out that the journey was mostly downhill. Jonathan Gitlin

I didn’t get anywhere close to the 52 mpg average, but I did better than whoever drove this Prius the week before, or the week before that. Jonathan Gitlin

The name of the game here is fuel efficiency, and on small wheels, the Prius should be extremely efficient—a combined 57 mpg (4.13 L/100 km). Our test car was the loaded Limited trim ($34,465) with its larger, less aerodynamic wheels, which should achieve a combined 52 mpg (4.52 L/100 km).

I think those numbers are realistic, but you have to concentrate quite hard to be that efficient driving this Prius. For one thing, that requires extremely gentle acceleration, oftentimes slower than the cars behind you might be entirely happy with. You can engage EV mode, but only until you reach 20 mph, at which point the combustion engine fires to life.

The engine sounds harsh and raspy if you need to rev it, which is a good encouragement to recalibrate one’s driving style and take things a little slower. So what if you arrive a minute or two later than planned? The majority of our driving was in the city, and while individual trips saw as high as 45 mpg (5.23 L/100 km), at the end of the week we had only averaged 41 mpg (5.74 L/100 km).

Smaller wheels with aero covers would be more efficient, but these 19-inch alloys really do make the Prius look good.

Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

On the road

The cockpit helps encourage you in this pursuit, with a driving position that puts the steering wheel almost in your lap if you want to avoid obscuring the small main instrument panel that’s midway between you and the far-off base of the windshield. Together with a control-covered multifunction steering wheel, the overall impression I get is of one of those wild wedge-shaped concept cars from the 1970s, in a good way.

I should note that the ride is on the firmer side, and you’ll definitely notice the difference between a rough road surface with something more recently paved. There is a Sport mode you can engage, which keeps the engine permanently running, but it’s not remotely fun to try to thrash the Prius like it’s a hot hatch unless you really, really like understeer.

Unfortunately, the Prius’ steeply raked shape is not the best in terms of visibility. That slanted A pillar causes some blind spots to the driver’s left, and the rear windscreen is small enough that our car was fitted with a camera mirror. In the past I’ve been quite a fan of these—they work to good effect in the Chevrolet Bolt and Corvette, for example—but here, I found the placement was close enough to my head that the video was overlayed with reflections in the top layer of glass, which was distracting enough I flipped the switch back to continue using it as a plain old reflecting mirror.

You sit with the wheel close, and the main instrument display far out ahead of you.

Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

From the driver’s seat the ergonomics are mostly good, with all the primary controls within easy reach. I found the volume knob at the far end of the infotainment screen to be a bit of a reach, but there’s also a volume controller on the steering wheel. Climate controls get dedicated physical buttons, and there are several USB-C ports, a wireless charging pocket to the side of the shifter, and even a secret compartment (labeled “secret compartment”) where you can store smallish items.